Woodward treads carefully in his new surroundings

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SIR Clive Woodward spent the first day of his new career as a football manager’s apprentice showing that he has already learnt a key trick of the trade — how to avoid answering awkward questions.

Schooled in the art of avoiding scrutiny by Alastair Campbell on the recent disastrous Lions tour to New Zealand, Woodward arrived at Southampton’s New Forest training centre at 7.30am, long before the media had gathered outside the gates. He then spent six hours largely in the company of Rupert Lowe, the chairman, being shown around the facility before stage-managing a press announcement about his arrival